Not Much of a Slytherin
by Rosekeet
Summary: Severus Snape was an ok guy, but not much of a Slytherin. A look on why Snape is the way he is. One chapter and that's it.


_Not Much of a Slytherin_  
By, Rosekeet  
A/N: Just a short one chapter thing. Thought I'd try a take on Snape.  
Rated G  
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all related characters and titles belong to J.K. Rowling. I assume no credit.  
Dedicated to: My parakeet  
  
  
  
Severus Snape was a good-looking wizard. Well, maybe not good looking but decent looking. A good wash with an oily hair shampoo every now and then wouldn't have hurt. But, he had clear dark eyes and pale skin. I liked Severus well enough. He was a good guy. Not, much of a Slytherin but, an ok guy.   
  
You're probably thinking- what do you mean not much of a Slytherin? Snape was the KING of Slytherins! Yeah. You would think that, wouldn't you? But, Severus wasn't the type. He would have made a better Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff even. I never figured out how he got sorted into Slytherin in the first place. The Snapes had been in Slytherin since the dawn of Hogwarts so I expect that had something to do with it.   
  
He did come to school knowing more hexes than most 7th years, but that was just because Severus was smart. Very smart. Smartest kid in the school next to James Potter, Sirius Black and Lily Evans. He just wasn't as showy. Potter and Black were notorious for their antics and Lily was Potter's girlfriend. Severus never did get the recognition he deserved.  
  
Only the Potions Mistress noticed him. He excelled in Potions. Only Evans did better. But that was just because he hated potions with a passion. Defense Against the Dark Arts was his thing. He wanted to be an Auror. Maybe he got into Slytherin because he was ambitious. But, he didn't have enough cunning to fill a teaspoon so that still doesn't explain it. I never understood how a person who was as keen on being an Auror as Severus was turned into a Death Eater. Maybe it had something to do with Potter. Potter may have reeked havoc in the school but his was the classic good guy with high morals. Snape hated Potter almost as much as he hated Potions. Most thought he was jealous of Potter's Quidditch skills. Severus hated Quidditch so that wasn't it. Jealous of Potter's people's skills maybe, or even Evans, but I don't think that was it either.   
  
I think Severus got tired of people expecting him to be the classic evil Slytherin. Like I said, it wasn't his nature. He was quite and reserved. True he had more sarcasm than necessary but he was thoughtful and quiet. The jokes about him knowing so much about the Dark Arts and his skill in hexes and curses finally made him crack. If someone hears a lie enough they'll believe it. So, Severus rebelled against his nature. Lived up to his reputation, and loved it. One day he was a kid who was helping little first years with their homework the next he's in the Dark Lord's inner circle.  
  
So Severus was one of the Dark Lords Death Eaters. He was good at it too. He had always been clever. He was one of the smartest of the batch. Severus would have done Ravenclaw house proud. He graduated with excellent marks that no one (not even Potter, Black and Evans could, though they did) could turn their noses up at. Slytherin was proud of Severus. He had served it well. Added another number to the list of Dark Wizards it had birthed.  
  
I don't know what happened to him those years after he graduated. Living high with he-who-must-not-be-named, most likely. But, of course, _I_ can't be sure. But somewhere along the line he wised up.   
  
The day Severus finally stopped his constant battle against his true nature was both the beginning and the end of his life. He was on the run for over a year, with the best death eaters on his trail; no one left the ranks of the Dark Lord and lived to tell the tale. Then it happened. The event that changed the course of history. A baby boy with messy black hair and vivid green eyes was born to Lily and James Potter. Severus of course didn't know about this. Only the Potter's friends and family did. Another year of living on rats passed. Severus who had once been one of the tops of his class and almost good looking was mad. Another event happened that Severus heard about but didn't comprehend. Harry Potter lived. The Dark Lord was gone, vanquished they said. Someone found Severus in a rural Swiss village (how he go there, I'll never know) and nursed him back to health. He wore a bandage over his Dark Mark. He went back to the place he knew he'd be safe: Hogwarts. But that couldn't change his past. He let go of his dark ways and the dark lord but he couldn't let go of the memories. He remembered his true self but couldn't fight the self he imposed upon himself. Years of practice had engrained it into him. He didn't know himself and he was terrified that someone else would know it. So up went another facade. Severus would have been a phenomenal actor. He was made head of Slytherin house and was as close to happy, as he had been in years when Harry Potter came.  
  
He hated Harry Potter as much he hated Potions. He suffered through teaching Potions for 9 years and now he had to suffer through Harry Potter and Potions at the same time. Severus had nightmares the evenings after he saw Harry. _The Boy who Lived._ Harry seemed to rub his goodness and defeat of the Dark Lord in his face whenever he wiped his messy dark hair out of his gemlike eyes to revel the thin lightening scar. He hated that a teenage boy could make him feel inferior. So once again another facade went up and his almost good looks which had returned were defiled by a sneer. But Severus still knew who he was... he hadn't lost that again... He just wasn't that person. That Severus was like a distant memory of a long lost childhood friend whose name you could remember but not face. So Severus went on teaching and suffering his memories.   
  
He was still an ok guy but not much of a Slytherin.   



End file.
